My life in London (and its environs). "Delusional if rather sweet" – Samira Ahmed

MJ Hibbett & The Validators – Regardez, Ecoutez Et Repetez

5) MJ Hibbett – Regardez, Ecoutez Et Repetez

I’ve just re-listened to this album, and it remains fabulous. Here’s what I had to say about it in April in my Morning Star review:

“IN a pointy-bearded parallel universe, MJ Hibbett & The Validators would be more than just underground legends.

Regardez, Ecoutez Et Repetez is stuffed with rumbustious pop philosophy you can dance to – the self-explanatory Being Happy Doesn’t Make You Stupid, the Hibbett diet plan of Do More, Eat Less and the introducing-the-girlfriend awkwardness of Best Behaviour.

The ballads are cracking too. Information Technology torch song It Only Works Because You’re Here is Hibbett’s Back For Good, and Leicester’s Trying To Tell Me Something is a sweet eulogy to a disappearing town, the pubs and venues he played and the town he might have stayed in, all torn down in the name of progress.

This is indie music the way it was supposed to be, with a gleeful, anarchic DIY spirit, the band’s enthusiasm for each and every song bursting out of the stereo. There be magic here – seek it out.”

To that, I’d add: cor, production! Cor, backing vocals! Cor, smile put on my face even on the darkest of days! Thank heavens for MJ Hibbett and his Validators.